Britain’s Octane Magazine never ceases to impress us with its authoritative stories about the coolest automotive history. When you learn that Octane is EVO Magazine’s classic car counterpart, you begin to understand the draw. Each month we eagerly await the latest issue to go live on our office iPad to see what the latest and greatest stories are. This month, not surprisingly, there’s a feature on Audi’s newly acquired Auto Union Type D.

You likely read the story here last week. That story was a press release from Audi Tradition and it’s made its way onto every major news outlet either in original form or slightly rewritten. The beauty of Octane is that they have the best connections at Audi Sport. As a result they get fantastic back stories to the goings on at Audi’s own history department. Octane was there in the photo studio outside of Ingolstadt when this wonderful new set of photos of the car and its non-supercharged twin already in Audi’s collection were photographed. Their feature (pp. 88-96) includes these shots and several more.

Similar to the photos, the text goes an extra mile on background. It tells the intriguing story of the Karassik family who masterfully sought out the remaining Auto Unions across several communist countries while the Iron Curtain was still very much in place. It is a tale that includes the bribery, the KGB and even the great grandson of War & Peace author Leonard Tolstoy.

For those keeping track, there is other great detail here as well. Remember the Auto Union Type D that had gone on the Christie’s Auction Block years ago? This is the very same car and its supercharged status versus non-supercharged versions like Audi Tradition’s own #4 car seen in this photo can be easily identified by the bulge and intake on the rear right side of the bodywork.

Want to read more? We’re including a link to Octane’s own online piece HERE, but it’s not nearly as detailed or rich as the version printed in this month’s October 2012 issue. We’d highly recommend picking up a copy at your local news stand or downloading it via Zinio on your iPad. Other stories you might also check out is a 1-page bio piece on Rudolph Diesel (p. 158). In the meantime, you can also check out the full collection of four shots released by Audi Tradition around its announcement made last week as well as other Auto Union Type D photos that we’ve amassed over the years in our photo gallery linked to the right and below.